We recently connected with Hannah Anema and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I am currently in the throws of transitioning to a full-time artist. I would rephrase the question, “if you had the option, would you start your creative career sooner or later?” I made my art business official 3 years ago and I feel like things are really taking off this year. I have thought to myself, many times, what it would be like if I finally decided to become a full-time artist. Currently I run my art business on top of a full-time job working for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as a fisheries specialist. I have a very unique job working on one of Minnesotas largest rivers, the Minnesota River. Primarily, I work with large riverine fish species by studying their movement patterns and life cycles within this specific watershed. I also have the amazing opportunity to work with Minnesota’s diverse communities and introduce many people to our spectacular natural resources. I bring a lot of my creativity into sharing about our resources and seeing peoples eyes light up when they connect with nature is one of the most beautiful things about my job. Working as a fisheries specialist also gives me access to endless interactions with nature that are the inspiration for creating my art. Leaving my job with the DNR when I started my business 3 years ago would have stopped me from making many meaningful connections with so many people around the state and would have also limited my access to inspriation. I believe one day I will pursue art full-time, but I feel like my creative role is not done at the Minnesota DNR. My love for nature, connection, and art makes for a powerful way to spread the love of our natural world, which is what our communities so desperately need for the future.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am an oil painter, muralist, and graphic designer. From a young, age my greatest passions have always been art and nature. Many of my paintings are based off Minnesota fish and wildlife. I first started making money off my art by offering commissions which consisted mostly of dog portraits. As much as I loved bringing clients visions to life, I recently decided to move away from commissions and bring my own visions to life. I started my official art business, Hannah Anema Art LLC, three years ago and have been gaining moment with murals, apparel, and wildlife paintings. There are many artists who paint wildlife, but with my art I hope to give the viewers a different perspective. I try to capture scenes or details in nature that would not be obtainable from the average photograph. For example I specialize a lot in capturing Minnesota fish species that many people have only scene above the waters surface. I also love to create my art with many bright and bold colors where a lot of traditional wildlife art was painted with muted tones. I take this approach with my mural and design work as well. I hope using bold color pallets and patterns in my work will inspire the viewer to take a closer look at the natural world around them.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My ultimate goal is to bring people closer to nature and ultimately closer to each other. Being immersed in the outdoors is not for everyone, but if someone can view my art and feel a connection to nature that was not there before, my art has done its job. As a society, we continue to grow further and further apart from the natural world. But we are all a part of the natural world that not only fosters connection to other beings, but connects us as all as human beings as well. I hope that my art inspires that initial step in connecting us to the natural beauty that is all around us on a daily basis.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Art business resources. Showcasing and advertising yourself as a creative is so important to help your business grow. The world moves at light speed and keeping up with the best way to spotlight yourself can be overwhelming. I ended up creating my LLC when I joined the Artist Academy, a community of artists who swap business strategies, creative tips and tricks, lessons learned, and transparency about product pricing. This community has countless amount of resources to help artists improve their business. As creatives, we don’t always put business first and this community has really brought my art business to the next level.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hannahanemaart.com
• Instagram: @hanemaart
• Facebook: Hannah Anema Art
• Linkedin: Hannah Anema Art

Image Credits

Jenna Daily Photography
Taylor Hendrickson Photography